Jesse Benton Subpoenaed in Bribery Case Before He Resigned

[orenbus]

McConnell Campaign Manager Subpoenaed in Bribery Case Before He Resigned
http://wfpl.org/post/mcconnell-campaign-manager-subpoenaed-bribery-case-he-resigned

The e-mails and financial statements of Republican Mitch McConnell’s former campaign manager were subpoenaed a month before he quit as the senator’s top aide.

That’s according a grand jury document posted Thursday by The Center for Responsive Politics in a report about an ongoing federal investigation stemming from an alleged bribery of an Iowa legislator in 2012.

The news comes as Democrats continue to pummel McConnell for avoiding questions about his knowledge of and Jesse Benton’s connection to the scandal, which remains a hot topic in Kentucky’s tight U.S. Senate contest.

In late July, subpoenas were issued for over a dozen individuals connected to the Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign, including Benton, who served as Paul’s campaign chairman.

Benton resigned abruptly at the end of August just two days after former Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson pleaded guilty to receiving payments from the Paul campaign for his endorsement.

Sorenson, who has said Benton was aware of the bribes, has reportedly taken a plea deal and is cooperating with federal investigators. Benton did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but in a released statement last Friday he maintained his innocence.

“The press accounts and rumors are particularly hurtful because they are false,” he said.

Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes has seized on the controversy, releasing a web ad and issuing nearly a dozen questions her campaign said McConnell needs to answer before “moving on,” as the senator said he plans to do.

The Kentucky Democratic Party also jumped in on the controversy Thursday, describing Benton as McConnell’s “handpicked choice and right-hand man” who departed amid scandal in the final stretch of an important race.

“Mitch McConnell can try to ignore the press and tell the people of Kentucky to just ‘move on’ from the fact that he paid Benton over $450,000 for his work, but voters deserve straight answers to simple questions,” Democrats said in a released statement. “After all, his own campaign employed someone with reported connections to an ongoing federal criminal investigation.”

The McConnell campaign has yet to respond to WFPL’s request for comment, but senior adviser Josh Holmes dismissed many of those attacks in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader on Thursday.

Holmes also said their team had no knowledge of the subpoenas, which were issued when Benton was still the McConnell campaign’s top aide.

Those subpoenas show the federal probe is focusing on the activities and businesses of Dimitri Kesari, a former Paul campaign official who was paid around $73,000 as a consultant for McConnell’s campaign.

 

[jmdrake]

Well on the bright side, all of this should be concluded one way or another before the 2016 primaries. I said before, after the Jesse Benton/Peter Schiff fiasco, that I wouldn't work with or donate to Rand 2016 if Benton was involved. Maybe I won't have to worry about that.

 

[specialkornflake]

Benton has been trouble since 2007 at least. I knew he was trouble since his gum-smacking face appeared in all the Ron Paul interviews in 2007. And then how creepy for him to marry into the family!

 

[kylejack]

Well well well Galileo Galilei, looks like they're looking a little deeper than you thought.

 

[YesI'mALiberal]

They paid him $450,000?! That's a crime right there.

 

[jjdoyle]

In late July, subpoenas were issued for over a dozen individuals connected to the Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign, including Benton, who served as Paul’s campaign chairman.

OVER A DOZEN? There were only six Ron Paul 2012 staffers listed in the original complaint.
I do wonder if Rand was involved in any fashion, since he was sending fundraising emails for the campaign.

 

[Cap]

But Galileo told us it was nothing but simply buying an endorsement. It happens all the time. Right? I'm confused. /s

Where is that lad? I want my money back.

 

[kylejack]

But Galileo told us it was nothing but simply buying an endorsement. It happens all the time. Right? I'm confused. /s

Where is that lad? I want my money back.

Galileo is busy getting subpoenaed for his role as campaign chairman in the not-bribe.

 

[Carson]

I can't remember of the dominoes falling in quick succession like they appear to of in these related cases...if these cases really are cases and not just a fabrication where each domino supports the others.

 

[thoughtomator]

Hey check out my uncogent inductive argument from exactly 2 years ago: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...ell%92s-team&p=4644812&viewfull=1#post4644812

I think that there is a serious issue that needs to be investigated as to who Benton was really working for while heading the Paul campaign, and whether there are one or more criminal acts of fraud involved.

 

[R.G]

Hey check out my uncogent inductive argument from exactly 2 years ago: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?389854-Jesse-Benton-Why-I-joined-Mitch-McConnell%92s-team&p=4644812&viewfull=1#post4644812

sounds like thoughtomator is a TROLL - his join day is only 2012 - hez a TROLL

 

[fr33]

They paid him $450,000?! That's a crime right there.

He increased his earnings while failing. He might as well have been Obama's man due to the ideology that built his house.

 

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Man, between the bigoted newsletter author, the Huntsman Tweet after Iowa in 2012, Dondero, and now this briber...Ron Paul sure could pick 'em.

Here's hoping Rand Paul has better luck, but he's already got Hunter and a former staffer with a MySpace page.

 

[New York For Paul]

Twelve plus staffers is a whole lot. Looks like Obama is putting all the resources into going after Ron Paul staffers.
I have noticed some former staffers seemed a little stressed out at times.

It is a shame. It didn't have to be this way. There was a lot of arrogance on the 2012 campaign staff which made me think they would make all sorts of terrible mistakes.

 

[nobody's_hero]

They paid him $450,000?! That's a crime right there.

At least Benton was sapping funds from McConnell's donors instead of the liberty movement, for a change.

 

[jjdoyle]

At least Benton was sapping funds from McConnell's donors instead of the liberty movement, for a change.

A position with McConnell he apparently got, because of the backroom deal Ron Paul 2012 upper staff made with Romney's campaign, and kept it to themselves while lying to supporters about a fake strategy for months and promoting money-bombs through May 2012.

I guess Ron Paul 2012 was simply doing money-bombs in March, April, and May 2012 to help fund Ron Paul 2012's legal fund, which looks like it may be paying for Dimitri's legal counsel at the very least, according to FEC reports and who we know is Dimitri's lawyer from certain reports.

I agree though, at least he hasn't continued to sap funds while being associated a liberty movement candidate.

 

[jjdoyle]

He increased his earnings while failing. He might as well have been Obama's man due to the ideology that built his house.

This. Why would anybody in Ron Paul 2012 get a cush job when the campaign was such a failure outside of raising money (something only done because of the supporters and the campaign continuously lying to them about a fake strategy and staying in until the convention).

Jesse Benton got a job though, apparently because he and other Ron Paul 2012 staff made a backroom deal with Romney's campaign. There's not one other reason he should have been hired by McConnell and been given such great opportunities like making over $100K in consulting fees to the Kentucky Republican party, with the results from Ron Paul 2012.

All the cash raised, was because of supporters being lied to repeatedly for months.
Most all of the delegate accomplishments, was because of supporters sacrificing their own time/money to show up to conventions, to be harassed, assaulted, and even arrested. For nothing.

From at least February 2012 until May 2012, Ron Paul 2012 was lying to supporters about why funds were needed (we know the campaign lied about the Kent Sorenson issue, so we can actually go back to December/January).

Supporters sacrificing car repairs, gifts to family, better meals, and semesters in school to try and help a candidate and campaign that didn't actually want their help, just their money. Dragging supporters along for as long as possible, to continue to raise money for the Jesse Benton/Dimitri Kerasi/Ron Paul 2012 defense fund.

 

[Weston White]

Redux: Why I REALLY joined Mitch McConnell’s team

$450,000

...Is there anybody that the Paul campaign didn't buy out?